


Stealthy But Not

by MadhouseVagabond



Series: Adventures of the Battle Buddies [4]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Attempted stealth, Gen, Ryan doesn't like being stealthy, UAV, battle buddies, stealth assignments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 20:25:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13748616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadhouseVagabond/pseuds/MadhouseVagabond
Summary: The Battle Buddies are assigned a three part stealth mission out in the field.





	Stealthy But Not

Jeremy dropped silently to the ground and slunk after his target. The shorter man had ditched his usual purple and orange garb for a more appropriate attire for a stealth mission, black body armor and combat pants along with dark kevlar. Jeremy snuck after his target, a Spanish speaking soldier in brown and green and sporting an M16 and a pistol at his side. The soldier paused for a second and looked over at his comrade who'd walked a little off to his right when they'd heard the strange noise and decided to investigate. Jeremy paused as well and counted down from three in his head.

On the sound of one he stood and grabbed the barrel of the soldier's rifle and slammed it backwards into his forehead, while with his other hand forcing the soldier's head forward with all his might. The man went down without a sound.

"And that's how you do your taxes!"

Jeremy looked over and saw his teammate smiling down at the limp corpse at his feet, taken out in perfectly executed unison with Jeremy's takedown. He shook his head and chuckled.

"Ryan that was the worst one liner ever!" he laughed. Ryan Haywood, the other member of Team Battle Buddies smiled over at Jeremy, his cheeky grin he always wore when he was proud of himself and didn't care what anyone said, bluer that blue eyes sparkling.

"Like you could do better," he chuckled. Jeremy smiled and crossed his arms over his chest, cocking his head to one side.

"Smoking will kill you!" he offered and nodded down at his target, a still burning cigar lying near him from where it'd fallen from his mouth when Jeremy disposed of him.

"Okay smartass don't go getting a big head," Ryan stuck out his tongue and winked at Jeremy as the two smiled and moved forward to continue their mission. They'd been sent in to disrupt a supply run of shady merchandise and destroy any of the product they found. As most of their missions recently had been, it was a stealth mission, much to both men's annoyance.

As the two walked along the cliff side they noticed a high wall coming up. Ryan looked at Jeremy and smiled.

"Going up?" he asked pointing upwards. Jeremy nodded as Ryan approached the wall and crouched beside it, cupping his hands and nodding to Jeremy. The smaller man backed up a few paces and then charged forward.

"Send me up Ryan!" he said as he stepped into Ryan's hands. The older man heaved upwards and sent Jeremy high up the rock wall, the younger snagging the edge and hanging there for a second as he looked down at Ryan.

"You ready? I'm coming up," Ryan said and ran forward, jumping and then launching himself off the foot he'd planted on the wall, propelling himself up a little higher. He reached out and caught Jeremy's extended hand. They'd practiced this maneuver dozens of times both in simulations and in the field. Jeremy used Ryan's momentum to help him swing his partner up within reach of the wall which he grabbed. The two hauled themselves up and over and crouched in some bushes for a second.

"Man, your arm strength is amazing! You've been hitting the gym hard huh?" Ryan asked. Jeremy blushed and was grateful for their face paint, headgear, and the cover of dusk so that Ryan wouldn't notice. He shrugged.

"Yeah, the Pals and I have been working out after missions every other day for the last few months. Been paying off," he said flexing comically. He was rewarded with a giggle from Ryan.

"Free working out? That must be a sight!" Ryan chuckled as they continued forward. Jeremy laughed quietly.

"He's actually not too bad and a lot stronger than people give him credit for," he said. The two snuck forward and found yet another wall, this one had noticeable hand and footholds that they could use to shimmy around the corner and climb down to the ground below. They shimmied around the cliff, keeping eyes peeled. Soon Jeremy's hushed voice reached Ryan.

"There're baddies down there," he said. Ryan looked down and saw two soldiers dressed like the ones earlier standing behind some trucks and chatting. He nodded and the two of them scooted closer, dropping a few levels down until they were only about ten feet above the soldiers. Ryan looked over at Jeremy and pointed to his own eyes. Jeremy watched intently as Ryan then pointed down at the soldier below him, a turban clad man. Ryan then pointed at Jeremy then down at the man below him. Ryan held up three fingers and then made a throat slitting motion. Jeremy nodded and gave a thumbs up to show he understood. Ryan held up one finger and they both immediately began counting down in their minds.

One three both men released their grips on the cliff and turned mid fall, pulling out their knives. In perfect synchronization they executed the soldiers and pulled their bodies into cover so as not to be detected. Ryan gave Jeremy a fist bump.

"That how we do it Battle Buddies style!" he laughed. Jeremy giggled and snuck around one a the vehicles which he discovered was a tank.

_Thank GOD we don't have to deal with that shit!_ he thought in relief. He pulled his NVG's down over his eyes.

"Okay I see, one..two, three..four guys there. I'm marking them for you," he said and pressed a button on the side of his goggles. Ryan pulled his own NVG's down and three marks popped up in his vision, marking three of the targets perfectly without him having to look directly at them.

"Sweet! I forgot you can only mark three of them though, these things need an upgrade," he said.

"Y'know, I'm going to unmark that guy, cause this guy has a shield. Better take him out before the other one," Jeremy said and a new mark appeared in Ryan's vision.

"Got it Battle Buddy!" Ryan said and slunk around the other side of the tank.

"Remember, we're going stealthy. No explosives until they're all dead," he said quietly into the comm.

"HQ really sucks the joy out of life," Jeremy grumbled and the two simultaneously smiled, each knowing that the other was. Ryan crept forward and was about to stand and take a shot at the soldier with the riot shield when he caught movement in his peripherals.

"Shit!" he whispered and hit the ground and rolled under a truck.

"Ryan what's wrong?" Jeremy asked.

"There's another guy here I didn't see. Almost walked on top of him," Ryan said as he took aim. The man went down without a sound and Ryan waited for a second before crawling out.

"Getting slow in your old age Haywood," Jeremy teased. Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Fuck you Dooley," he chuckled.

"Ryan please, not on the first date!" Jeremy's voice was a mix of mock indignant and mirth. The two friends chuckled and Ryan went back to concentrating.

"See anything my way?" he asked.

"Switching to sonar," Jeremy said and turned a knob on his goggles. Blinking a couple times to the now white world that filled his eyes he tapped a button and a sonar pulse emitted from the goggles, showing the location of every soldier near them.

"You've got two to your left on the other side of that truck and then one further ahead in the tent," he said before switching off his sonar vision.

"Got it. Is shield guy still in the way?" Ryan asked as he moved forward and studied the scene.

"That's a solid yes. If you can distract him and he turns your way I'll be able to bip him. I wouldn't be able to bip this other guy though in time so you'd have to deal with that fuck," Jeremy replied. Ryan narrowed his eyes as he watched.

"Okay here's what we'll do," he began.

"Whatcha got buddy?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm going to bip tent guy and the guy closer to me. Hopefully with that distraction you can time the shot of the guy farther to your left then swing around and get shield guy when he turns to get me," Ryan said.

"Risky but I like it! So long as I get to kill something," Jeremy said happily.

"We've already got a nice body count for the mission," Ryan smiled as he pointed this out.

"It's not enough Ryan! I need to kill!" Jeremy chuckled. "And I never thought I'd see the day when Haywood himself said a few kills was enough."

"Okay okay you win!" Ryan shook his head as he prepared to stand and take the shots.

"Yay! What's my prize?" Jeremy asked. Ryan fired the first shot, the patrolling soldier falling dead and quickly turned to the guy in the tent who hadn't noticed yet. He fired again and turned around to see the soldier with the shield turning towards him and raising his gun. Suddenly the man's head exploded all over the inside of his shields viewport and he crumpled to the ground, Jeremy standing from his position and walking over looking pleased with himself.

"Prize?" Ryan asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah! Y'know, for winning. There's always a prize!" Jeremy smiled. Ryan shook his head and sighed.

"You're worse than a six year old," he said.

"I wanna prize Ryan!" Jeremy mimicked a child's voice and stomped his foot. Ryan rolled his eyes before picking up the two bodies of his kills.

"Definitely worse. Help me stack these up by that explosive barrel, I've got an idea!" he said.

Jeremy watched curiously as he helped Ryan stack the bodies up in a pile. The taller man kept mumbling something to himself and giggling, a smile spread across his face. Most would find Ryan's behavior unnerving, but to Jeremy it just meant fun and adventure were about to happen.

"And now the finishing touch," Ryan said as he placed a propane tank next to the pile. He turned and watched as Jeremy's eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face. The lad hopped from one foot to the other in an excited dance.

"Ryan I love your mind!" he said as the two backed away.

"I now present to you, Jeremy Dooley, your prize. Will you kindly do the honors sir?" Ryan asked in an exaggerated announcer voice as he bowed low.

"What a gentleman. Fuck yeah I'll do the honors, just try and stop me!" Jeremy chuckled as he took aim and fired.

The ensuing fireball that consumed the bodies lit up in the two men's eyes, reflecting the awe and happiness there at the sight of chaos. Laughing the two marched down the path, the second part of their mission a go.

"Okay, find the target, capture him, and then destroy the convoy of merch," Jeremy muttered.

"Easy peasy," Ryan smiled as he spotted movement, placing a hand on Jeremy's shoulder and guiding the two towards some bushes.

"Three baddies, all with helmets, one a sniper," he said softly. Jeremy nodded and pulled out his silenced handgun. As Ryan slunk to the right Jeremy went left, locating his target and quickly putting him down. He flipped on sonar again and spotted the sniper, taking aim at Ryan.

Quickly lifting up his gun Jeremy didn't even scope in, knowing his weapon better than anything and fired, the bullet shattering the sniper's scope and blowing through his head.

"Nice shot Jeremy!" Ryan called.

"Got your back buddy!" he smiled as he continued forward. His smile melted as he rounded a corner, a man with a shotgun looking right at him.

The target.

"Shit!" Jeremy exclaimed as the man aimed and fired, barely diving behind cover in time. He looked out to see how close the target was when movement up on the bridge overhead caught his eye.

"Jeremy you okay?" Ryan called, voice growing worried.

"Found the target, and there's snipers on the bridge!" Jeremy replied as he reloaded. He saw Ryan moving off to his left, sneaking behind a boulder and taking aim at the snipers.

"Just be careful not to kill this asshole with the shotgun down here, we need to capture him," he said as he distracted the target.

"Aw do we really have to?" Ryan whined.

"Yes."

"...are you sure?"

"Ryan it's the mission!" Jeremy nearly shouted as he smiled. Ryan hated catch and tag missions, preferring to leave his assignments in a wake of blood. Jeremy was usually of the same mindset, but this assignment had a huge payout and he wasn't about to let Ryan's lust for blood get in the way of making bank.

"Fine," Ryan's voice came back over the comm, an obvious eye-roll in the tone. Jeremy smiled and popped up, taking out one of the snipers.

"Get him buddy!" he shouted as the target raised his shotgun and took aim at Jeremy. Suddenly the man swayed and dropped the gun, taking a step forward before falling to the ground.

Jeremy raised an eyebrow at Ryan as he emerged from behind the rock, a proud but disappointed look on his face.

"Relax he's just asleep. Tranquilizer," he said as he squatted next to the man. Jeremy nodded as he approached, watching Ryan zipties the man's wrists behind his back and his ankles together. He held out a roll of tape that Ryan asked for and after the target was secure, he snapped a tracking beacon onto the unconscious man's vest and activated it, knowing that HQ would be sending a team in momentarily to pick him up.

"Would've been more fun to kill him," Ryan grumbled as the walked up to the bridge.

"Look at it this way, they'll probably ask you to interrogate him," Jeremy pointed out. Ryan's eyes lit up and the smile was back on his face.

"You always know what to say to cheer me up!" he said.

"Because you're a sadistic fuck," Jeremy pointed out with a wink.

"Jeremy please, I'm going to start blushing," Ryan chuckled as he playfully smacked the back of Jeremy's head.

Planting the explosives was easy, the two watching the convoy explode from a safe distance in a small safe house where they restocked their ammo and supplies, Ryan casually munching a banana as he watched the billowing fire.

"Part three!" Jeremy cheered as the two made their way to the roof, his eyes lighting up when he spotted the dual zip lines. Attaching himself to one he looked over at Ryan as he did the same, putting a thumbs up to show he was ready. The two men shoved off and zipped down the line, Jeremy giggling as Ryan let out a childlike "woohoo!"

Hitting the ground Jeremy took out any ground forces, while Ryan covered those hidden higher up in the buildings. Jeremy marked two locations and made his way to one, finding a conduit to hack into. Ryan reported a similar conduit and the two began hacking. Jeremy stood back once his hack was complete, but nothing happened. He raised an eyebrow.

"What the fuck?" he asked.

"What's up Jer?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing happened," Jeremy said.

"Maybe we missed something. I'm gonna check out this building," Ryan offered, Jeremy spying the man scaling the outside of the building next to his. He followed as Ryan hauled himself through the window.

Stepping through the open window several things met Jeremy's sight. First we're two blue projections on the wall that showed off what looked to be a satellite drone/UAV type device, one they'd never seen before but had all the markings and signs of being Rooster Corps property. The second was Ryan staring at the projection with wide eyes as he practically drooled at the sight and the potential carnage he could wreak with it. And the final this that caught Jeremy's quick eye were the snipers in the building across from them, looking in their direction.

He pulled Ryan quickly out of sight and shushed his protest with a finger pressed against the gent's lips as he jerked his head to the dancing red lasers from the snipers red dot sights, Ryan nodding his understanding. Finally Jeremy removed his finger and sighed when the lasers flickered away.

"Well this is new," he said looking at the projector as he stepped away from Ryan when he'd pinned him against the wall, feeling slightly awkward. Ryan smiled and nodded.

"It's pretty. I wonder what this is?" he wondered.

"I'll radio HQ and ask them how to proceed," Jeremy said and stepped away for a moment, turning to a separate channel on his comm.

Ryan studied the projector, trying to figure out how the thing worked. There was a spot on the floor near one of the windows that seemed like a circle. He stepped closer and as he did a small control panel popped out and raised up to waist level, a small set of strange glasses resting atop it. Curiosity was always Ryan's weakness, he reached for the glasses and placed them over his eyes. Immediately the world was transformed into a overhead view of the streets outside, except everything looked white and grey, small red forms moving around.

"Whoa! Jeremy this is awesome!" he exclaimed.

"Ryan you put it on without knowing what it was?" Jeremy exclaimed walking over.

"Yeah! This is so cool! It's got missiles!" Ryan breathed in childlike awe. Jeremy sighed and held back the chuckle bubbling up in his throat.

"HQ says this one of the new tactical UAVs they've been developing. It's armed with rockets and a machine gun. What you're looking at is outside, it's equipped with radar that locates enemy troops and pinpoints their locations. They should pop up..." Jeremy began.

"As red dots?" Ryan asked as he pressed a button. Jeremy shook his head as missiles crashed into a building down the street, shaking the block and raining down debris everywhere.

"Got em!" Ryan cheered and glanced at Jeremy who just smiled and shook his head.

"Just try not to blow me up out there okay buddy?" he asked as he walked to the window.

"Where are you going?" Ryan asked.

"Gotta make it to the next UAV location down the street a few blocks. HQ said that while I'm doing that you cover me from the air and when I reach mine I'll cover you as you come to me," Jeremy said. Ryan smiled and was about to make a joke when Jeremy silenced him with a look.

"I know what you're going to say Haywood. Don't," he said with a chuckle as Ryan shrugged and turned back to his UAV.

He spied several enemies in a building across from them and fired several missiles at them, the dots disappearing. He smiled in satisfaction. This was going to be fun. Jeremy slipped out the window and started down the street, keeping an eye open for any movement. Suddenly loud rapid sounds reached his ears and a body flew out from an alley.

"Jeremy, I found the machine guns!" Ryan cheered in the comm. Jeremy laughed as he continued forward.

"Good job buddy. How clear am I?" he asked.

"Hold on..." Ryan said and the sounds of the UAV's machine guns filled the air again. "...you're clear for the next block!"

Jeremy walked forward, confident that Ryan had his back. He saw the carnage that the UAV inflicted and couldn't help feeling Ryan's love for the machine. He couldn't wait to get his hands on one.

"Jeremy we've got to get us one of these!" Ryan said happily.

"Sure thing buddy! I'll pitch in. Maybe HQ will give us a discount or some shit," he said hoping it was true. He had the feeling these things weren't cheap.

"Marking a guy on a roof," Jeremy said after taking out a couple ground troops. Ryan scanned around finding Jeremy's mark. He bit his lip.

"Jeremy I can't take him out, there's something blocking my shot," he said as he turned and fired at another person in the street, just as Jeremy began to speak.

"Well there's a guy in the road...never mind," he said with a giggle as the man exploded in front of him.

"Jeremy please, I have missiles," Ryan smiled. That's when something caught his eye. Another mark that Jeremy was moving towards.

"Oh wait, was this that guy you were talking about earlier?" he asked as he fired.

Jeremy had just looked up to shoot the guy when the missile struck the building and destroyed the man, small bits of rubble raining down on the short man.

"Holy shit Ryan! I was just shooting him in the head when you blew him up!" he laughed as he continued down the street, Ryan laughing along. Turns out the mark Ryan had thought originally was the target was where Jeremy was supposed to go, and Ryan saw that his partner was very close.

"Extraction team is on their way. We just have to get to the end of this street and out the other side," Jeremy reported. Ryan nodded as he fired again, destroying another sniper. Jeremy darted into the safety of the building marked for them and saw with excited eyes that another UAV station awaited him.

"Oh Ryan I'm here and guess what?"

"What?"

"It's your turn to cross now buddy!" Jeremy smiled as he jumped into the UAV navigation controls and watched as Ryan walked to the street.

"You got the drone now?" Ryan asked with a smile.

"Ryan, I've got the drone now!" Jeremy cheered as he lit the street up, sending enemies left and right in the explosions.

"It's fun isn't it?" Ryan asked.

"That's an understatement!" Jeremy laughed as Ryan's dot began to move. He scanned the rooftops and spotted several snipers taking aim at Ryan.

"Hold on I've got several snipers here," he said and fired his missiles. Ryan waited for the explosions and dust to clear until he looked up.

"We now have no snipers," Jeremy giggled.

"Awesome! I like to hear that!" Ryan laughed as he moved forward, both men taking out each enemy they spotted, until Ryan was safely in the room with Jeremy.

The lad leapt up and hugged Ryan, looking up at him with a large smile.

"That was awesome! Another successful mission by the Battle Buddies!" he said. Ryan laughed and hugged back as the two walked out the back door, a white pickup pulling to a stop, one of their operatives signaling them to jump in.

With a sly look from Ryan the two leapt into the bed of the truck and hunkered down, pressed side to side due to the small space of the bed. They smiled at each other and gave each other high fives as the truck pulled away, the Battle Buddies' cheers echoing behind them as they headed home.

**Author's Note:**

> Battle Buddies is back!!


End file.
